Pakistan officials in Sri Lanka wanted 26/11 return in Bangalore

NEW DELHI: Two Pakistani High Commission officials posted in Sri Lanka had conspired to send terrorists to India via the sea route, for an attack on the US consulate in Chennai and Israel mission in Bangalore in a re-run of the 26/11 Mumbai raid, the National Investigation Agency claimed in a charge-sheet.

The plan was to send the terrorists to a landing spot between Rameshwaram and Tuticorin in a rowing boat, the NIA said in its startling disclosure in the 28-page charge-sheet accessed by ET. The charge-sheet was prepared after the arrest and questioning of a Sri Lankan national, who the agency said was in India do the groundwork for the attack.

According to the agency, the two Pakistani officials – Amir Zubair Siddiqui who worked as counsellor (visa) and his superior whose identity is only known as ‘Boss’ – had tasked Sri Lankan national Muhammad Sakir Hussaien to come to India for reconnaissance of the American consulate in Chennai.

“Hussaien was told that planting bombs in American Consulate, Chennai, is code named as ‘Wedding Project’ and ‘Wedding Hall’ is the US Consulate (target),” the charge-sheet said. The terrorists will be “cooks” and the “bomb devices” they are carrying, “spice contents”. Hussaien, who was arrested in Chennai in April, admitted to all charges and was convicted on November 27.

According to the NIA, Hussaien, who had many meetings with the two Pakistani officials in Sri Lanka, was told to take photographs covering deployment and movement of police at the US consulate and befriend “a second-level security personnel” from the consulate and introduce him to them (Siddiqui and Boss) so that they could get information about the movement of vehicles and officials for planning the attack.